The Labor enquirer., 1887-02-12
% 1IlI!Ell:|| sl!AyE..'
4 Little Story yof Interest Both
y The White and /! cel-
orSd Bondsman:
Lst tho Black Chattsl Slave and
the White Wage-Slavs For
see the Future.
What American Liberty Lovers Have
Doss Before TAsy Perhaps
II WIN Do Asain.

The Anarchists Of Chicago are -sGain
reported astir. and . plot b said 10 have
been discovered bv which they intend
TO capture and sack that city. Chicaso
seems to be the chief seatp the bSrnic-
ous doctrines Of our time. Dstrolt,
Mich Plaindealer. Ks
The only thing that makes the above
item sound strange to % l. the fact that
It is Ehe utterance Of an organ Of the
colored race. II It were In any Of ths
dominant newsmongsr sheets u would
not be worth the printers willis 70 Ut
II up. Coming from the paper that Il
does IL swakens in our memory some
mighty events ofa not distant past. In
October, 1860, scarcely more than .
quarter Of century ego. n "Anaychist"
by the name Of John Brown marched
across the Potomac river ct Hexper's
Ferry and unlawfdlly invaded the terri
tory Of Virginia. This invasion was an
act Of Anarchy. He opened warfare
with force and arms upon the psacsabls
law-abiding citizens Of Virginia. This
was Anarchy. What fort What was
his purposef To free the black mem
they called them "niggers" then, now
they call them colored men-from slav-
cry. That was his divine mission-and
yet was Anarchy. Being captured he
met his fate with . courage and herolsm
unsurpassed in the annals Of heroic
deeds. As he marched to the gsllows
between two 6les Of virginia's armed
militia he stopped and gently kissed the
cheek Of Q little negro child with -
much tenderness a. did the Master
when he said 'Suffer little children to
come unto me-" In all this broad land
q howl went up from the press and peo-
pie throughout the North against "0ld
John Brown" His works and his ut.
terances were denounced ~ tho "perni-
cious doctrines Of the times. Suppose
we substitute another word for IAN.
archist" In the above. paragraph and
make it read - follows:
"The Abolitionists of -- are again
reported sstir. and Q plot is said to have
been discovered bv which they intend
10 capture and sack the city. seems
to be the chief seat of the pernicious
doctrines Of our times"
With simply the change Of one word,
how we'll the above item would have At.
ted the columns Of any pro-slsvery paper
In December. 1859. Not . thousand
men in the whole North dared to stand
up and apologize for the rash act Of "old
John Brown. Only nine men-we
know one Of them personally-had the
courage to follow his remains across the
frozen water of Lake Champlain and
witness his burial at North EIba. Wen.
dell Phillips was about the only man
who had the courage to stand BY the
"assassin's" grave and say word in his
behalf. Aye. "old John Brown" was
hung. The slave oligarcby proclaimed
that 1t had crushed out the "pernicious
doctrine Of abolltionl The people Of
old Virginia once more slept in peace.
The "niggers" once more resumed their
work, sung their plantation melodies.
enjoyed their holidays, and still In their
hearts sighed for liberty. Slavery-thst
sacred institution; that vested right Of
pfoperty-was once more safe. All this
was in December. 1850. We were Q
mere boy then. We hardly knew what
all the talk meant about "old John
Brown" and his raid at Harper's
Ferry" "Old John Brown'sg body was
rotting away, in that lonely grave in
northern York state. His soul wa
marching onl And when . martyrs
soul is marching on, 1t means mischief
fof injustice and wrongl One little yeal
passes away. And then another and
what do % hear? The roar Of cannon,
the beat of drum. call to xrml
In less than three years from the time
that "old John Brown" was hung, the
writer hereof-the small boy who did
not comprehend the talk about th,
Harpers Ferry raid"-was marching
across the seli.same Harpers Ferry
bridge, directly past "John Browns
folt.' in the ranks Of an army Of l00,0O(
men, and every man was singing tht
song of "Old John Brown" The ole
martyrs soul had marched along till /,
had gotten into the hearts and souls o
q whole army Of abolitionistsi In lea
than four years from the day the old
grissled martyr was hung for trying :,
free the slaves president Of the Unitet
States issued 1 proclamation Of emsnci
kpationl Ah. how II would have Lite,
up the heart Of the old man II SOM
power had revealed to him, ~ b.
marched to the gallows what four year
would bring forthl
4 Let others, who will, condemn q
] "pernicious" the doctrines Of the An
archists. May be theS need condemn
ing; that Is not the question In thi
case. What We want to ny is-and v
cav it in kindness for the purpose Of be
getting charitv-that race which owe
| in liberation from bondage 70 the acts o
an Anarchist, ought not 10 throw stone
at others. simply because It u fashion
liable 70 do Chicago Sentinel